Chinese zodiac · Year of the Monkey
The Fire Monkey: 1956, 2016, 2076
丙申 · Bing shēn · Yang Fire stem on the Metal branch
A Fire Monkey year pairs the Heavenly Stem 丙 (Bing, yang Fire) with the Earthly Branch 申 (shēn, the Monkey). The pair recurs every sixty years, so in the range AsterNym covers the Fire Monkey years are 1956, 2016, 2076. The animal is the same each time; the stem is what makes a Fire Monkey different from a Wood Monkey or a Earth Monkey. The popular zodiac begins each of these years at Lunar New Year and BaZi begins it at Li Chun, so both boundaries are given below for every year.
What a Fire Monkey is like
Popular Chinese zodiac tradition. For reflection, not prediction.
The Fire Monkey is the most energetic and competitive, inventive at speed and impatient with anyone slower.
The Fire Monkey of 2016 is the most energetic and competitive, inventive at speed, and the tradition would say the year's politics had the same restlessness.
In BaZi terms the Fire stem controls the Metal branch: Fire restrains Metal in the controlling cycle. Practitioners read the year as the element on top holding the animal in check, so the Monkey's nature is disciplined, sometimes frustrated, and channelled rather than let loose. Tension with a purpose.
The rest of the Monkey’s character, in love, at work and the growing edge, is on the Year of the Monkey page.
Fire Monkey years and when each begins
The popular zodiac year begins at Lunar New Year; BaZi begins it at Li Chun, the start of spring. Both dates are given so a birth between them can be placed in either system.
| Year | Lunar New Year (popular zodiac) | Ends | Li Chun (BaZi) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | 12 February 1956 | 30 January 1957 | 5 February 1956 |
| 2016 | 8 February 2016 | 27 January 2017 | 4 February 2016 |
| 2076 | outside the table | … | 4 February 2076 |
The next Fire Monkey year is 2076. Check any birthday against the boundary with the finder.
Famous Fire Monkeys
Public birth records, assigned by the Lunar New Year boundary.
Born in 1956
Common questions
- When does the Year of the Fire Monkey start?
- The 1956 Fire Monkey year began at Lunar New Year on 12 February 1956 and ran to 30 January 1957. The 2016 Fire Monkey year began at Lunar New Year on 8 February 2016 and ran to 27 January 2017. 2076 is outside AsterNym's Lunar New Year table. BaZi turns the year at Li Chun instead (1956: 5 February 1956; 2016: 4 February 2016; 2076: 4 February 2076), so a birth between the two dates carries different year animals in the two systems.
- What is a Fire Monkey personality?
- The Fire Monkey is the most energetic and competitive, inventive at speed and impatient with anyone slower. In BaZi terms the Fire stem controls the Metal branch: Fire restrains Metal in the controlling cycle. Practitioners read the year as the element on top holding the animal in check, so the Monkey's nature is disciplined, sometimes frustrated, and channelled rather than let loose. Tension with a purpose.
- When is the next Fire Monkey year?
- 2076. The pair of stem 丙 and branch 申 recurs every sixty years.